I'm a wife, mother and step-mother. It took over 10 years and many procedures but we finally have our miracle.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

My Physical Recovery - Part 1

I think I must be pretty wimpy and I must also have a low
tolerance for pain and discomfort.Recovering from my c-section was harder than I thought it would be.

While I was in the hospital I was taking a big Motrin every
6 hours and a perc every 4 hours.I
decided to only take one perc because I’m pretty sensitive to medications like
that and did not want to be loopy while trying to care for my new baby.

One of the days (our second full day) in the hospital I had
a nurse that came to see me in the morning and the early afternoon and then no
one showed up until after 7:00 that night.I had visitors come and go, food come and go the baby came and went
(more on that later) but no nurse and no pain medications.The nurse that visited me early in the
afternoon told me to make sure I got up and walked around to make sure I healed
properly.She showed me how to clean my
incision and helped me put my binder back on after my shower.So I took the baby for a couple of walks and
tried to stay out of bed (something else she told me to do) as much as I
could.Then more visitors came and went
and before I knew it, it was just after 7:00, which was shift change time.

I had been sitting in the nursing chair while we had guests
and when I stood up I almost collapsed.My incision felt like it was on fire.I was in so much pain I could barely move.BJ went to find a nurse to bring me
medication.He was pissed when I told
him how long it had been since I had seen a nurse.I just didn’t think about it…I was busy with
the baby and visitors and walking.I
completely over did it and had gone over 7 hours without any pain
medication.Holy hell…I could not
believe how much this hurt.The nurse
that came in asked me why I hadn’t called sooner and I told her that I had
never had to call before…the nurses had just been coming in to give me meds and
check on my temperature and my blood pressure.I wasn’t paying attention to how many hours it had been since my last
doses.It was hard enough to tell day
from night and keep the baby’s feeding schedule straight.So I got my meds and all was well.Needless to say we complained about the nurse
that I had and come to find out she was a substitute from another floor.I also did not do any more walking, I enjoyed
my hospital bed to the fullest.There
was no need to try and rush anything at that point.

My wrist was still hurting me and that really sucked.I had to maneuver the baby, the boppy and
everything else when I could barely move my hand.It was awful.And then my right wrist started hurting.This was all I needed, right?BJ
helped when he could but he didn’t spend much time in the hospital with
us.He had to work because he had used 2
days needlessly right before she was born for our cancelled induction and then
our health scare.There’s more on that,
too.I’m trying to keep things organized
in my head.J

We went home and I made sure to keep up on my
medications.It was nice because we went
home on Saturday afternoon so BJ was able to spend lots of time with us.He stayed home Monday and Tuesday, too.I really missed the hospital bed because putting
my feet up was so easy on my belly.Laying on the couch was not nearly as comfortable.I was told to avoid steps so I had to have BJ
get a list of items from upstairs for us on a daily basis.I did go up 3 times before I was released
because I had to shower for crying out loud.I moved slowly but deliberately and still did not understand why I was
hurting so much.There was pulling and
tugging and it really was uncomfortable.BJ suggested I call my OB so I did.She asked me to come in.I went
in and she looked everything over and said I was healing really nicely.The incision looked great but I was really
sore.My body had been through major
surgery and I couldn’t understand why I was hurting so much.

My SIL, meaning no harm, told me how she was up and moving
and felt fine after her 3rd c-section so of course I felt very inferior
(do those feelings ever go away?) to her and became very down on myself.There were times that I would stand up
because I had to go to the bathroom but I didn’t realize how badly I had to go
until I stood up.Oh, the pain that
seared through my incision on those few occasions.I
could barely stand upright while walking to the bathroom it hurt so much.I told myself that I would not wait to pee
any more.It was crazy.Like I said, I think I must have a low
tolerance for pain because everyone else told me their stories and I just sunk
deeper and deeper.

There came a point where I started to feel better.I guess it was about 3 weeks post-partum.I was able to move around better and the
stairs didn’t bother me anymore and I was able to lay on my back with my legs
straight without too much pain.My
wrists were still killing me, though.There were times when I was bathing BG (baby girl) that I just wanted to
cry.I was so afraid I was going to mishandle
her because of the pain and my limitations on movement with my hands.Thankfully, I never did.

It took about 4 months or so until I was able to lay on the
floor on my stomach and prop myself up on my elbows without too much pain.I tried it several times a week before that but
there was so much pulling and strain that I could only last a minute or 2.

I’m much more mobile now, thank goodness.It took a long time to get here but I kept
telling myself that it would get better and I didn’t push it.I still feel my incision when I lift something
heavy or walk uphill, it’s crazy.I
never thought that I’d still be feeling things 13 months after the
surgery.One of my coworkers told me
that she still sometimes feels pulling and tugging sensations and it’s been
just over 20 years since her surgery.Yikes.I guess this is just something
I’m going to have to live with.

I’ve been able to start doing Pilates.And by “doing” I mean I did them once last
week.Ha!I was so sore after that I wasn’t able to
tackle it again (I was going to on Friday butleft work early and then we had a snow day on Monday and I had a lunch
meeting today…so maybe tomorrow I’ll get back to it).It’s been almost 2 years since I did a core
work out so I wasn’t surprised at how much my muscles were screaming
afterward.My incision didn’t bother me
so that’s good news.I just need to get
back in the gym and work the muscles again.

There’s a few more aspects of my physical recovery that I’d
like to share.Mostly to just get it out
of my head but maybe there are women out there that also had a hard time and
can make me feel better about being a “wimp”.J

5 comments:

You don't have to live with scar pain forever! There's a place in Columbia MD called Her Health PT that works on women with pelvic and other pain sometimes stemming from surgical scar tissue and adhesions. They are awesome! I bet there is someone near you. If not, someone who does myofascial massage can help. Sounds like a rough recovery :(.

I've had 3 c-sections and I will tell you, my recovery from the first one was brutal. I admittedly refused all pain meds but hey, I was 21...I highly doubt I'd refuse it now!

For months after, I would tense up in the car going over the tiniest little speed bump because I could feel it in my incision. I later realized that a lot of my pain was coming from "babying" the incision and not standing up straight, therefore giving me brutal back pain! I would say it took a good year for me to stop feel slightly back to normal.

Fast forward to my 3rd c-section, I was in the grocery store less than 2 weeks later, with my son in one of those front carrier packs. I bumped into my friends sister who said "I thought you had a c-section?" and I said "I did" lol. The recovery was night and day.

Don't beat yourself up though. The reality is, people DO have different pain tolerances. You had your abdominal muscles cut into and a PERSON pulled from your body...it's painful! Like someone else told you, even 20 plus years later, I still get twinges of pain down there. It hurt to pee for many years after and after my 3rd, my abdomen was completely numb which I was told would never go away but thankfully, after major ab workouts, the feeling came back!

Okay, enough babbling. Don't compare your birth story to anyone else's...it is YOUR birth story and you have absolutely nothing to feel badly about. You should feel proud! HUGS and so nice to see another post from you!

My recovery was much like yours for both of my c-sections. It was much harder than some people made it sound. I was on paid meds (both ibuprofen and vicodin) for 3 weeks each time. And I still feel the tugs too. Don't get down on your self...you're a tough chick and you did a great job!

I'm sorry you felt inferior because of the pain you were experiencing following the c-section. It's really major, isn't it! I don't think I had as much pain as you experienced, but I found that the discomfort lasted for so many long months afterwards. I still have a hard time with any sort of abdominal work and it's been 12.5 months since my c-section.I hope you are all doing well. Happy belated birthday to BG.

About Me

I'm a married woman in my 30's. I'm trying to navigate my ship into uncharted waters...Motherhood! Care to come along for the ride? I hope you don't get sea sick!
You can e-mail me at tambo518 at gmail dot com

My Journey

August 2000 - starting TTC with husband 1August 2001 - both checked, both fineMarch-May 2002 - 3 BFN with clomidJune 2002 - consult with RE, plan for IUI, no insurance coverage therefore no proceduresJuly 2002-Feb 2005 - TTC naturally with no luckMarch 2005-Sept 2005- single, no need to TTC taking BCPMay 2006 - No more BCP with new manOct-Nov 2008 - New round of testing with RE, both checked, both fine, plan for IUI with new insurance helpDec 2008-Jan 2009 - IUI canceled due to functioning cystFeb 2009 - IUI #1: Gonal-F, Ovidrel = BFNMarch 2009 - IUI #1: Gonal-F, Ovidrel = BFNApril-June 2009 - IVF #1 - BCP failed to diminish cyst, held on Lupron too long and only produced 2 follies, cycle canceled and switched to timed intercourse - BFNJuly 2009 - IVF #1, Take 2 - BCP for 10 days, started stimming with Gonal-F, Menopur on 6/28 - ER set for 7/7 with 5 follies!July 7, 2009 - 4 eggs, 3 mature, 2 fertilized normallyJuly 10, 2009 - 2 8-cell embroyos transferred...beta set for 7/24!!July 21 2009 - HPT reported a BFN, the biggest BFN I have ever seen.July 24, 2009 - Confirmed negative beta....complete sadnessAugust 2009 - Begin a more natural approach to babymaking...we'll see where it takes usJanuary 2011 - Decided to take the bull by the horns and will attempt to be approved for Shared Risk IVF...we just can't give up yet. RE appointment set for February 10...fingers crossed.February 2011 - Denied the Shared Risk program but going ahead with one final attempt at a biological child and doing a single cycle IVF. Please, oh please, let this work.April/May 2011 - Got 5 mature eggs, 3 fertilized normally and we transfered 2 "ok" embryos (blast, early blast) on day 5. BFP - first ever after 10 years of trying at 8dp5dt. Beta was only 38 at 12dp5dt and then fell to 30.5.May-December 2011 - Grieve our loss and try to put the pieces back together.January 2012 - Decide to try Shared Risk Donor Eggs!! First appointment with RE is set for January 31!February 2012 - Selected our donor and the very next day the match was complete! Waiting for treatment calendar from clinic and then we are off and running!April 2012 - I will begin Lupron April 6 and our donor's ER set for May 3!May 2012 - Our donor produced 10 eggs for us, 9 of which fertilized! We transferred one perfectly graded (4AA) 5-day blast on May 8 and were able to freeze 4 embryos. All frozen embryos are graded (4AB). Beta set for 5/21. BFP on hpt on 5/18 - my birthday!5/21 - 1st beta - 804 (13dp5dt)5/23 - 2nd beta - 17415/25 - 3rd beta - 3830